THE REDIRECTION  —  A STRATEGIC SHIFT  —  In the past few months, as the situation in Iraq has deteriorated, the Bush Administration, in both its public diplomacy and its covert operations, has significantly shifted its Middle East strategy.  The "redirection," as some inside the White House …

Clinton Fights to Keep Impeachment Taboo  —  After Spat, Campaigns Know to Expect Swift Reprisal for Any Hint of the Scandal  —  Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton has a new commandment for the 2008 presidential field: Thou shalt not mention anything related to the impeachment of her husband.

Reason #2,675,932 Why I Hate the Media  —  They make me defend Mitt Romney. … SO WHAT?  —  LeMew calls this "a bulls**t smear piece on Romney" and "straightforward religious bigotry," and I totally agree.  Romney doesn't practice polygamy, nor does he support it; that his ancestry …

Murtha Stumbles on Iraq Funding Curbs  —  Democrats Were Ill-Prepared for Unplanned Disclosure, Republican Attacks  —  The plan was bold: By tying President Bush's $100 billion war request to strict standards of troop safety and readiness, Democrats believed they could grab hold of Iraq war policy …

38 killed in attack near Baghdad college  —  BAGHDAD, Iraq - A suicide bomber struck Sunday outside a college campus in Baghdad, killing at least 38 people and injuring dozens as a string of other blasts and rocket attacks left bloodshed around the city.  —  Most of the victims were students …

Journalism as Entertainment: Should News Inform or Just Entertain?  —  Recent events have helped underscore the extent to which our "establishment" journalism industry is failing to provide Americans with the information they need in order to make reasonable, informed decisions about the future of the nation.

U.N. calls U.S. data on Iran's nuclear aims unreliable  —  Tips about supposed secret weapons sites and documents with missile designs haven't panned out, diplomats say.  —  VIENNA — Although international concern is growing about Iran's nuclear program and its regional ambitions …

Al Gore, Rock Star  —  Oscar Hopeful May Be America's Coolest Ex-Vice President Ever  —  LOS ANGELES — In the annals of vice presidential history, tonight will be something different.  In his black tux, the man known to his most fervent fans as "The Goracle" will arrive by hybrid eco-limo and …

An Upside-Down World  —  The British far left makes common cause with Muslim reactionaries.  —  LONDON—The other day Ken Livingstone, the mayor of my hometown of London, organized a conference on Islam and the West.  It was a carefully rigged affair in which handpicked speaker …

Sunday Wrap-up  —  Writing in Roll Call, Stuart Rothenberg, one of the nation's most astute political commentators, urged politicians not to "lower the bar for candidates' campaign bloggers."  —  The occasion for his column?  Amanda Marcotte's apologia, in which she claimed that her departure …

A Secret History  —  For Muslims and non-Muslims alike, the stock image of an Islamic scholar is a gray-bearded man.  Women tend to be seen as the subjects of Islamic law rather than its shapers.  And while some opportunities for religious education do exist for women …